Railway-rail or other joint



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. A. J. 82 G. W. CURRY.

RAILWAY RAIL OR OTHER JOINT.

No. 415,290. Patented Nov. 19, 1889.

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Units STATES ATENT OFFICE.

ANDREW .l. CURRY AND GEORGE \V'. CURRY, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

RAiLWAY-RAIL OR OTHER JOINT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 415,290, dated November19, 1889.

Application filed July 24, 1889. Serial No. 318,546. (No model.)

To aZZ whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that we, ANDREW J. CURRY and GEORGE W. CURRY, of St. Louis,Missouri, have jointly made a new and nsefuLImprovement in Railway-Railor other Joints, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription.

In carrying out the present improvement a peculiar shape is given to theopposing ends of the rails to be joined and a peculiarly shaped spliceor shoe is combined therewith, whereby the rails are accurately andfirmly joined, and without the aid of bolts or other auxiliary parts orpart, substantially as is hereinafter set forth and claimed, aided bythe annexed drawings, making part of this specification, in which Figure1 is a side elevation of the splice; Fig. 2, an end elevation thereof;Fig. 3, a plan thereof, and Fig. l a bottom view thereof; Fig. 5, asideelevation of one of the opposing rail ends; Fig. 6, an end elevationthereof; Fig. 7, a plan thereof, and Fig. 8 a bottom view thereof Fig.9, a side elevation showing rails united by means of the improved j ointFig. 10, a plan of the same, and Fig. 11, a bottom view; and Figs. 12and 13, respectively, cross sections on the lines 12 12 and 1; 18 ofFig.9.

The same letters of reference denote the same parts.

A, Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 1, represents the splice, fish-plate, or cradle,as it may indiiterently be termed, and which hereinafter \villbe styledthe splice. It consists, essentially of abase a and two upright portionsa a, which are preferably integral. The upright portions a a are spacedsufficiently apart to admit between them the web 1) of the rail ends BB, as presently described, and in height they extend upwardto reach theunder side I) of the top b of the rail ends B B, as presently described,and in the direction of their length the portions a a extend beyond bothends of the base a, substantially as is represented at a a Theseextensions are essential to the working of the device. However, the baseand the upright portions may be united,whatever the width of the base,whether as wide as is the base l) of the rail ends B B or wider ornarrower than such base U The upright portions a of the splice mustproject longitndinally beyond the ends of the base a. It is desirablefor the base a in width to extend laterally outward beyond the outerside of the upright portions a a, and in practice the base a conforms inwidth to the rail-base b Such a widened base stiitens the splice againsta lateral strain, and it adds to the strength of the splice generally.

B B represent the opposing rail ends of the rails to be joined. They areof the usual construction, saving that the lower portion of the railends is removed, so that the Web I) and top 11 of the rail end shallproject longitndinally beyond the lower portion of the rail end,substantially as is shown at 1), Figs. 5, 7, and S. The removed portionis preferably confined to the base b but we desire not to be re:stricted expressly thereto. The chief object in removing this portion ofthe rail end is to provide room for that part of the splicenamely, thebase (t-Wlll(3l1 serves to unite the upright portions a" a.

The joint is formed substantially as is represented in Figs. 9 to 13.The splice is slipped endwise onto one A of the rail end until half thelength of the splice laps upon that rail end, and then the opposing railend A is slipped into the other half of the splice. \Vhen the parts aretogether, the base of the splice comes between, and at the level of thebases of the two rail ends the upright poi" tions of the splice comesnugly against and inclose the opposing webs of the rail ends. Theupright portions of the splice at the upper edge thereof come againstthe underside of the opposing tops of the two rail'ends, and theextensions a a of the splice are interlocked with the rail ends-thatisfthe two extensions (t a at one end of the splice are and respectivelyupon opposite sides of the rail end held between the top and base of therail end to which that half of the splice is attached, and the twoextensions a a at the opposite end of the splice are similarly engagedwith opposite rail end. In this manner a single part suffices toperfectly unite the rails and to secure their ends against vertical andlateral displacement. No detachable parts, like nuts and bolts, areneeded. There are no project-ions, lateral or vertical, from the railsto occasion trouble. There is nothing to Work loose, and the line ofrail on its under side has snbstantiallya continuous surface adapted asWell to longitudinal as to cross ties. An indefinite amount of expansionand contraction of the line of rail is also provided for.

WVe claim In combination With the rails having the lowv er portion oftheir opposing ends removed, the herein-described splice, consisting ofthe base and the upright portions, said upright portions being spacedapart and being extended 1ongitudinally beyond the ends of said base,substantially as described.

Witness our hands this 20th day of July, 15 1889.

ANDREW J. CURRY. GEO. V. CURRY.

\Vitnesses:

C D. MooDY, D. WV. 0. SANFORD.

